We Meet Again
by Cmdr. Gabe E
Summary: PostX3. Mystique finally confronts Magneto about his betrayal. She will never forget how he left her behind. She then reveals to him what she desires the most. And she needs him to have it. MagnetoMystique. Angst. Anger. Passion.
1. A painful reunion

Title: We meet again  
Author: CmdrGabeE  
Rating: PG-13  
Fandom: X-Men movie-verse  
Pairing: Magneto/Mystique

Summary: Post-X3. Raven finally confronts Erik about his betrayal. She will never forget how he left her behind. She then reveals to him what she desires the most. And she needs him to have it. Magneto/Mystique. Angst. Anger. Passion.

Chapter 1: A painful reunion

"Magneto." Erik quietly rolled the name off the tip of his tongue.

He wondered if he would ever hear anyone call him by that name again.

He exhaled, closed his hands into loose fists, and stared at the metal chess pieces before him. He had been reduced to this. A frail old man in a park, without a name to call his own. It had already been two weeks since the event at Alcatraz, and he had been in hiding ever since.

David Wincott. That was his name now. A fake name to go with a fake identity. He grimaced. He hated being with the humans. It mocked him. The fact that he now had to live amongst them made him sick. The thought alone was a mental stench that polluted his mind.

He stared at one of the chess pieces and quickly waved a hand at it. It moved a centimeter, like it always had for the past two weeks. His powers were not completely gone, but they were barely there. And that was enough to render him helpless compared to what he was once capable of doing.

Erik would never forget the feeling of the needles in his chest. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the memory of it. He would never forget how the cure seeped into his system...How it felt when it turned him inside-out, transforming his mutant genes into 'human' ones. It was painful, both physically and mentally. He felt as if he was being eaten alive, as if his very essence, his very person, was being sucked out of his skin. He would never forget that night.

He sighed, and looked at his watch. Six thirty in the evening. It was getting late, and he could not risk being seen in public for too long. At the state he was in right now, helpless and virtually powerless, he could not afford to be recognized as Erik Lensherr. Fear. Did he fear the humans now? Was he now the one hiding from them? Should he be? Wasn't he one of them now?

No. Never. Erik would never consider himself a part of the human gene pool.

To him, the human gene pool was dirty, imperfect and unworthy. He still couldn't believe how long those humans have survived in the planet.

He grabbed his fedora off the table, stood up, and walked home. In human standards, he would be considered 'normal' now. Using the resources he had left, he acquired a small apartment in the city. He now goes to the grocery to shop, like normal people. He now sits home, reads the newspaper, and watches television - like normal people. But he hated it. He hated each and every agonizing second of it. Because none of it was real. This new life was not his. It was fake, born from the death of the powerful mutant he once was. He didn't need this. What he needed – was his old life back.

After walking down a few blocks, he soon reached his apartment. He subtly looked around, to check if anyone had followed him or recognized him, and went up the stairs to his front door. He waved at the doorknob, expecting it to click open, but remembered that his ability to control metal was now gone.

He grumbled to himself and reached into his coat's front pocket for the key. Oh how he hated this normal life. After everything he's been through, after everything he's fought for, he did not deserve to be 'this'. He hastily opened the door and pushed it close behind him.

"What?" He whispered curiously.

He could feel the door pushing back against him, almost as if there was another force on the outer side of it. He quickly turned around and the door swung open towards him, causing Erik to step back in defense and anticipation. Then his eyes widened with surprise and his mouth gaped half-open at the sight of the woman who was now standing before him.

It was her.

"Mystique..." He spoke her name, slowly, cautiously. Its syllables slid of his tongue and slithered through his teeth. He could not believe she had found him. And he had not forgotten the fact that he had left her behind.

Raven Darkholme stood tall and proud in the doorway of Erik's apartment. She was wearing a woman's corporate attire that comfortably clung to her svelte frame, further emphasizing her voluptuous physique. Her straight dark hair came down to her shoulders, and some of it shadowed the side of her face. In her eyes was a hint of hatred as she stared at the man she once considered a comrade...a friend...a companion...until he betrayed her.

"No one has called me that for a while, Erik." She said firmly. Her voice resonated with enmity and it did more so when she spoke his name. She would never forget what Erik had done to her.

"But that doesn't mean you had to turn into someone else. You will always be Mystique...Unless of course if you have now accepted your slave name, Raven." Erik replied, spitting her name back in return. He kept his blue eyes on hers, and neither made a move – yet.

"Don't think I've forgotten what you did to me." She said, sounding angrier now. She stepped forward into the apartment and kicked the door close behind her. "You betrayed me. You left me behind! After everything I've done for you! After everything we've been through!"

Erik never wavered. He stood still where he was and seemed unshaken by Mystique's hatred towards him. "I cannot believe you still haven't moved on, my dear." His voice was smooth and calm. "I did what I had to do. You weren't one of us anymore. I 'had' to leave you behind. It was necessary." Magneto smirked and turned around to walk deeper into his living room.

"You should be thanking me for not disposing of you, considering how much you knew about me." He turned around and threw her a mocking gaze. "And according to what I've heard, you betrayed me too. That makes us even now, doesn't it?"

Raven walked after him. "That's not the point, Erik!" She yelled.

She was now standing right in front of him. She could practically feel him breathing. "You will never get the point! But it doesn't matter now. Because just like me, you are now one of them." She spat the words at him. She wanted him to feel the pain. "How does it feel, Erik? To be amongst the beings you hate the most? I bet it makes you sick to your stomach. I bet it makes you want to die!"

Erik stared her down. "At least I'm still holding on to who I am, Mystique." He said majestically. "But you..." He looked at her, up and down, and felt disgusted by what she had become. "You have come to embrace the new life the cure had given you. You let those humans talk you into becoming one them. You disappoint me, Raven. I thought you were stronger than that."

Raven grimaced with anger and pushed him hard on the chest. "Don't ever tell me who I am and who I'm supposed to be! After what you did to me!" She shouted. "Do you think it's easy, living with them? Working with them? Do you think it's easy for me, that I now have the life I've always wanted? It's not easy, Erik. It's not easy to wake up everyday and realize that being human was the answer! I don't want to accept it either, but since the cure, my life changed. I know life should not be right, but it is." Her voice softened and she grabbed him by the chest of his coat. "It's so 'right'. My life now, everything...It's what I've always wanted. And that's what scares me the most."

Erik glared at her. He looked at her as if she had committed the worst crime of all. "Then you truly have become one of them." His voice was cold and judgmental. "You let them get to you, Mystique. You let them manipulate you. And now, you're slowly starting to become --- human."

She clenched his coat tighter, pulling him closer to her. "How can I not appreciate this life, Erik? This was what I've always wanted. To be treated with respect, to be treated as an equal. To not be hurt just because I am different. And now I have all that and more."

His eyes suddenly burned with anger and he grabbed her by her upper arms. Raven instinctively let go of his coat when she felt the tight, almost painful feeling of his grip. She whimpered in pain as she looked up into the cold blue eyes that were new looking into her own.

"Don't you see, Raven? That's the reason why they now treat you as you deserve to be treated. Because they've stripped away the very essence of what once made you special, of what made you different from them. Do you think you'd have the life you have now if you were still Mystique? Do you think they would still treat you as their equal if you still had your blue skin?"

He pursed his lips in a taught line and let go of her. "Get out of my sight. You disgust me."

She rubbed her upper arms cautiously. And she looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Despite the fact that she hated him with so much passion, his words stung. And they burned their way into her soul. How could he push her away for the second time?

"I don't even know why you've come to me." He hissed through gritted teeth. "You come here and tell me how much you enjoy being one of 'them'. Well, then, forget about me. Forget about who you once were. Enjoy the mirage that is now your life." His voice poured with sarcasm. "Now get out of my face. I don't ever want to see you again."

His voice echoed in her head. She stared into his eyes, and with as much force as she could muster, slapped him hard on his left cheek. Erik's head whipped sideways from the force of her hand on his skin. His breath became ragged and he swallowed as the pain settled in. He could feel his cheek throbbing and didn't doubt it if it was now red from the impact. He looked back at her, and saw her eyes about to break out into tears. He didn't care.

"Didn't you hear what I said? I said, get out of my sight!" He said to her, louder and more forcefully this time.

She slapped him again, harder than the first time. Once again, Erik accepted the impact. He saw it coming, but he never moved away. Perhaps, because deep inside, he knew he deserved it from her.

He looked back at her again, unwavering and unshaken by the pain. A thin red line of blood slowly made its way from the small cut on his cheek, right down to his jaw. He had almost forgotten how physically powerful she was. Her physical prowess was an innate ability. She had attained it on her own through the years. It was never a mutant trait. Her human qualities were always at their best.

"Have you come here to hit me then? Seek revenge? Make me feel the pain you think I deserve?" He smirked and his eyes were as blue and as cold as ever. "Then go on, Mystique. Feed your anger. Hurt me if you think it will satisfy you. Go on. After all, I'm just an old man now, void of his powers. You can easily kill me if you want me to. I dare you." He slipped off his coat and let it fall on the floor. Then he smirked at her, mocking her, teasing her. "What are you going to do now, Raven? Would you like me to bleed some more? Does the color of my blood feed your hunger for revenge?"

Raven never said a word. Her breaths were now shallow and ragged Her chest and shoulders heaved up and down as she stared at him, face to face. She couldn't help it, but she hated him. She hated him so much she wanted to cry. He betrayed her. And his betrayal was more painful than any of the pain she had endured in her life. She would never forget the way he left her...Cold and naked, amidst the bodies of the humans they had killed. She would never forget the way he looked at her in disgust.

She suddenly cried out in anger, tears finally streaming down her face, and she slapped him again on his bleeding cheek. She slapped him as hard as she could, screaming out and crying out as she did. She hated him so much she wanted to hurt him.

"Why, Erik?" She asked, yelling at him. "It didn't have to end that way!"

Erik's face violently whipped sideways when Raven's hand came full-force on his cheek for the third time. And this time around, his knees buckled from the pain and the dizziness. His eyes almost rolled to the back of his head. The room around him was now spinning. It looked like his Mystique was done playing games. She wanted her justice served.

Right after she slapped him, she quickly reached out and grabbed him by the neck of his black sweater. She tugged him hard and fast towards her and kissed him mercilessly on the lips, pressing his lips so hard against hers that it almost hurt.

She kissed him, devoured him, sucking and kissing his lips, his tongue, his mouth. She hungered for him. She didn't know why, but she did. She tasted a hint of the blood that tricked from his cheek to his lips, but she didn't care. She wanted him all to herself. It was all happening so fast it felt like a drug rushing its way through her veins. She slid her hands up his sweater, feeling his warm, smooth skin underneath the fabric. She wanted him so much.

Before she could go any further, Erik pushed her off of him, cutting off the contact of their skin. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked angrily. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Then he carefully touched touched his cheek and winced at the pain he found there.

He took a step backwards, away from her, and felt the back of his leg against the armrest of the couch. "What has gotten into you? Why did you..." He didn't know how to continue. He didn't know the right words to say, or if those 'right words' even existed.

He, himself, was surprised with what just happened. He never expected her to do what she did. He expected her to kill him, not kiss him. Why did she do it? Why?

x x x x x x

To be continued...

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	2. The question of love

Chapter 2: The question of love

Mystique could not find the will to move. She just stood there, staring at him in shock and confusion. Even she didn't know why she did what she did. She never once pined for him. In all their years together, they were never once involved in a romantic relationship. They were always partners, comrades, teammates – never lovers. Neither of them showed any interest to the other - as far as she knew...as far as she knew.

So why now? Why the sudden hunger for his kiss, his touch? She remembered how her hands slithered up into his sweater. She remembered how her lips caressed his and how her tongue swirled in his mouth. And she did that all on her own accord. She wanted it all to happen. Was it because of what she 'really' wanted from him? Should she tell him?

Erik licked his lips and looked at her firmly. "Why are you here, Raven?" He paused for a few seconds to observe her. "I know you came to me for a reason. I can see it in your eyes. I can always see it in your eyes. You want something."

The feeling of her kiss and her hands on his torso continued to linger in his head. They swam in his mind like a myriad of images that would not let him be. They taunted him, teased him, like echoes of a sensual scream, like a delicate finger running over sensitive skin. He immediately pushed the thoughts away, deep into the recesses of his mind. He thought of it as a mistake --- a mistake that occurred in the heat of the moment. A mistake that should be forgotten. It was nothing.

She swallowed and stood steadfast. Perhaps it was about time that she told him why she really was there --- the real reason why she had come to him that night. She needed him. No. Not him per se...But what he could give her.

"I want to have a child, Erik." There. She did it. She finally told him. There was no turning back now. She had jumped off the cliff and there was no way to go but down, but fall. She could feel her palms cold and sweaty as she nervously waited for his reaction. What would he think of her now?

Erik furrowed his brows and looked at her confused. "A child?"

"Yes. A child. My child." She said, motioning a hand towards herself. "I want to have a child. Someone to call my own. Whether I want to admit it to myself or not, I want to be normal, Erik. I've always wanted to have the life 'they' have. And now that I can have that life, I want to have a family, a child at least. I want to have a baby. Someone I can name and care for. A child who will love me no matter who and what I am. I want to become a mother..."

"Enough!" He shouted. "You've become insane, Mystique! You let them get to you --- those humans and their Utopian ideology of what a family is! You're letting them drag you into their own little world of false comfort and white picket fences! Wake up to the truth, Mystique! You can never compensate for all the pain you've endured by having a child! Stop fooling yourself! This is not what you want!"

"I'm not fooling myself, Erik! I want this child! Don't you understand? I want to know what it's like to have someone growing inside of me. I want to hold 'my' baby in 'my' arms. I want to know what it's like to wake up in the morning and find my son or daughter sleeping right next to me." She pleaded. "I want to see my child grow and go to school and have a happy life – the life I never had."

Erik grimaced and shook his in dismay. "You've changed, Raven. You let them change you."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I've changed. But that's just because the world has. Open your eyes, Erik. The world has changed. If only you'd give it a chance ---"

"Get out!" He yelled. "If you want to have a child, then do so! Play the blind fool and pretend that you're one of 'them'. I don't need you here telling me what to think! Goodbye, Mystique." He wanted her to leave. He didn't want her here, polluting his mind with her new 'human' ideologies.

"But I need you." She replied. How would she tell him?

"Need me? I don't understand." His voice softened. Was she trying to tell him something? Has he become so numb with anger and hate that he could not read between the lines?

"I told you I want to have a child." She continued.

Erik didn't like where this was going.

"I can't have a baby alone, Erik. The child needs a father." She could feel her voice falter for a second. She hoped he now knew what she had been trying to tell him.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're asking me to..." He clenched his jaw and stared at her firmly. "No, Mystique. No. Not me. Don't get me into this."

"Yes, Erik. I want you to father my child. Despite what's happened between us, I couldn't think of anyone else. I tried. Believe me, I tried. I told myself that I'd find the right man someday, but – I couldn't. I kept on thinking of you, of us. You're the closest person I've ever had in my life. You're the first person I've ever trusted. The pain you caused me was grave. But at the same time I cannot deny what you've given me all these years. You're the reason why I've come this far, Erik. You're the reason why I became this strong. It is because of you that I've survived for as long as I have."

He stepped towards her and brought his face closer to hers. "But that doesn't mean I have to be a part of your plan. I'm not going to be a part of this. I don't want to be. It will only complicate things, can't you see that?" He hissed the words at her. "You may have given up on us mutants, my dear, but I haven't. For me, the war has just begun, and the cure has only fanned its flames. It's either you join me, Mystique, or get out of my way." His voice was hard and rigid. "I don't need you or your theoretical child adding to my present burdens."

Her heart sunk. He rejected her and she felt it. Erik always had a way with words. He had the gift of a silver tongue. And this time, he used it against her. "So that's how you look at me now? I'm now an obstacle to you? An obligation?"

Erik smirked and mockingly ran a finger down her cheek. "My dear Mystique, you become an obstacle to me from the moment you turned into one of 'them'."

His smile turned into a sinister grin and he pulled his hand away from her. He felt the blood on his cheek still trickling from the cut she had given him. He could also still feel its dulling sting. He gently wiped some of the blood that trailed down to his chin and looked at his blood-covered fingers.

"You cut me good. Now if you'll excuse me, I would have to tend to myself now. You know where the door is. Now leave." He said sternly.

He turned around to walk away, when Mystique placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Wait." He stopped on his tracks with his back facing her. "I don't know how I'll be able to convince you, and I don't know if I ever will...But I really want this child. I've never wanted anything like this before, Erik." She wished she could see the expression on his face. "I've thought it through a million times over...And I made up my mind. You're the only one I want for this."

She squeezed his shoulder gently, in hopes of penetrating the emotional barrier he had built around himself. "Please...Grant me this final request, and I'll do whatever you want. Give me my baby and I'll leave you be. I'll leave and forget about you – and us - and you'll never have to worry about me ever again. You will never be burdened by me or your child. Your blood will flow in his veins but he will have no memory of you. I promise you that."

Erik stood silent. Then he turned his head sideways and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "It's a sin - To conceive a child without love." Then he slowly turned around to face her. "You do not love me, Raven. You love the memory of me. You love the thought of me. You love who I am. But you do not love me. Find a man you will love and who will love you in return. Have the child with him."

Mystique couldn't deny the truth in Erik's cold voice. He rejected her again, but he was right. He was always right. If they had a child, it would be born from a conception without love.

"I'm sorry, Mystique. But I cannot give you what you ask of me. What you want, what you desire - you will not find it here. You will not find it with me." Those were his final words to her.

She kept his eyes on his, still hoping beyond hope that he would reconsider. She stood there, silent and still, and so did he. She thought about what Erik said. He told her to find a man she loved and who would love her in return.

And it dawned to her right then and there...Erik never loved her? Had he never once felt a tinge of pure compassion, pure love for her? Was their relationship so focused on their hatred towards humanity that they themselves have forgotten what it was like to love? As for her, did she ever love him? Truly, deeply, love him, without ever even knowing it? Had she loved him all this time?

"Oh, Erik." She whispered. And she looked at him with so much sadness.

She slowly reached out, and gently placed a hand on his healthy cheek. "Why couldn't you learn to love me? Was I never good enough for you?" Her voice was faint and shaking. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. But she had to be strong. She had to hold back her tears. Crying would prove her weakness. Crying would prove that she did not deserve him.

Erik said nothing. He didn't even move. He just stood there, looking back at her, his Mystique. But despite his cold surface, his light blue eyes couldn't hide the hint of affliction in his heart. It pained him to see her like this. This woman, Raven, she was his other half. She had been by his side far longer than anyone's ever had. She was strong, willful, determined, and dangerous. She reminded her of himself.

All the years they've been together, they've developed a bond stronger than friendship – a bond deeper than love. And now she's asking him why he'd never love her. The answer was simple to him, of course, but he knew she would never understand it. If he had let himself fall in love with her, they would have been doomed. Love would have complicated things between them. It would have clouded their judgments and strayed them from their goals. They never needed love to begin with. Love was for those who were weak - Those who surrendered to the desires of their heart --- and the heart was a deceitful thing...a scary thing that can make one do crazy things.

Raven stepped closer to him and he let her. Her body was now just a mere inch away from his and he let her. She kept her hand on his cheek, stroking it gently with her palm and her thumb. She looked into his eyes...Those light blue eyes that were now looking back into her own. She brought her face closer to his, feeling his breath against her skin, her lips almost touching his.

She gently kissed his lower lip. He did not kiss her back, but he did not push her away. He just looked into her eyes. She kissed him again, harder and more passionate this time. But Erik never responded. She broke off the brief kiss and found him still watching her. Mystique could not understand what he wanted now. Did he want her to keep on going? Did he want her to leave?

And he finally spoke. "Fine, then. I will give you your child. But after that, we go our separate ways."

Raven knew she should be happy...But her happiness was only half-filled. For a mere moment there, she actually thought he would finally admit to having loved her somehow. She forced a nearly invisible smile on her lips and nodded her head. "Thank you, Erik." She whispered.

He sneered at her and carelessly grabbed her wrist. He pulled her after him, dragging her along the way as they walked up the stairs. "Don't thank me. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart." He looked at her sideways. "I'm doing this as a payment for what you have done for me in the past."

"Erik! You're hurting me!" She yelped. He was gripping her wrist too tight. Was 'this' going to be a just 'job' for him? Nothing but a form of 'payment' for the loyalty, friendship, and camaraderie they once had? Was he truly this ruthless to turn love-making into something so low and materialistic?

He pulled her with him into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Raven backed away, distancing herself from him. He scared her.

Magneto noticed the fear in her eyes. "What are you waiting for, Mystique? Isn't this what you wanted? Isn't this what you came here for? You wanted me to give you a child and that's exactly what I'm going to do. No more. No less. Take it or leave it!" He was mocking her.

She felt so weak, and cold. She didn't know why, but she did in that room. There was no warmth in there, no heat, no passion, to prelude what they were about to do. She wanted them to make love. But there was no love in Erik's eyes. He deemed it more of an obligation than anything else.

"I do want it, Erik. But not like this. I didn't think it would be like this." She said to him.

His face was suddenly filled with anger. "What did you think it would be like then, huh? Did you think I would sweep you off your feet and whisper sweet nothings into your ear? I don't want this child, Raven! You do! It's going to be your child! Not mine!" He yelled at her, shouting at the top of his lungs. "You came her, claiming to want to do 'this'. I refuse you. You persist. I say yes, and now you want something more!" His voice filled the room.

"The only thing I can give you is a child in your womb! That is all I can offer!" He wildly pulled his sweater off and threw it on the floor, exposing his bare torso. Then he marched to her and grabbed her by her upper arms, pulling her against him. "What else do you want from me!" He shouted at her face. "What more do you want from me! I've lost everything! Can't you see that! What more can I offer you now!" His grip on her arms tightened.

Delicate streams of tears started to trickle down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes. His grip on her was so tight she wished he would let her go. "I just want you to love me, Erik." She begged. "Maybe this child doesn't need to be conceived without lo--"

Then he kissed her, suddenly and without warning. He kissed her hard and ferociously, forcing his mouth, lips and tongue against hers. Mystique whimpered under her breath. She could feel his teeth grazing the soft skin of her lips. His kiss was too rough, too uncaring, too hungry. He was devouring her alive like some wild animal. She knew she should pull away, but she couldn't...She didn't want to.

He suddenly broke off the merciless kiss, and the two of them found themselves staring into each other's eyes again, with faces so close and breaths so ragged and quick. Mystique didn't know what to think now. Her head still swirled from the feeling of his untamed kiss. Her mind was telling her to leave, to forget about him and go. But her heart and her body was telling her otherwise.

He loosened his grip on her arms. "Why did you have to come here, Raven?" He spoke to her. His voice was stern, but it was soft and concerned. "I let you go. I freed you from our war. I gave you a way out. Why did you have to come back?"

"I had to come back for you, Erik." She replied, looking deep into his eyes. She reached up and gently cupped his cheek with her hand. "I had to come back for you. Don't you get it? Can't you see? I love you. All this time I've loved you. Everything I've done, I've done for you."

Erik frowned. "No. Don't say that." He said firmly. Then he turned his head away from her and pulled her hand away from his face. "You're confused, Raven. You don't know what you want right now." He looked at her again. "You can't love me." He commanded her.

"Why can't I?" Mystique asked. "I love you, Erik! Why can't you accept that? How can you tell me to stop loving you when my heart tells me otherwise?" She exclaimed.

"You only think you love me, Mystique!" He yelled in return. "But the truth is - you feel alone. The cure left you no choice but to join these humans, and now you feel alone in their company. You try to fit in. You try so hard, don't you? To feel like one of them to the point that you want to have a child to feel complete, to feel normal, to feel 'human'. But deep inside you know you are not human. Deep inside you know you are not one of them. And that's why you came here. To find solace in my company. Because I remind you of who you really are. And being with me makes you feel like yourself again. That's it, isn't it, Raven? That's why you think you 'love' me. But let me tell you something, my dear. That is not 'love'. You want it to be but it is not."

Mystique remained silent. She wanted to deny what he said. She wanted to tell him that he was lying, and that she truly loved him. But she couldn't help but feel as if he had just read her thoughts. Everything he said, everything he told her, were the truths she never wanted to tell herself.

x x x x x x x

TBC ;)!

Thanks for everyone's reviews :D!


	3. A much needed conversation

MUCH thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter :D! And to Capt. O'Hagan, 'tis such an honor to have you enjoying this fanfic ;)!

"Did I disappoint you or let you down?

Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?

'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,

Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won.

So I took what's mine by eternal right.

Took your soul out into the night.

It may be over but it won't stop there,

I am here for you if you'd only care."

James Blunt, Goodbye My Lover

Chapter 03: A much needed conversation

Without saying a word, Mystique wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned forward, filling the short space between them, and sobbed on his shoulder. Silently she weeped, pressing her temple against his fair skin. Erik let her be. He knew he should pull away from her and tell her to go. But he let her weep in peace. He had already said too much and brought her too much pain for one night. He had been cruel to her...brutally honest without holding anything back. To let her cry freely was the least he could do. He wanted her to have a time of peace.

He looked at the window. He didn't know if he was ready to look at her face again. He was a cold man, but to see her cry because of him would only crush him.

Erik wished he could love her. He truly did. He wished he could let himself go and love her as much as he could, but it was something he could not afford. To love her would only complicate things. His love for her would hold him back. If he let himself fall for Mystique, he knew he wouldn't be able to take it if something happened to her because of their war, 'his' war. If he sent her to a mission and lost her, it would drive him insane. Such was the pains of love. And that was why he couldn't love her.

"I can't love you, Raven." He finally whispered. He kept his eyes away from her. "You know that. I cannot allow myself to love you. Not until this war is over. And it might never be over. This is the price I have to pay...The price 'we' have to pay for what we're fighting for."

"I hope you understand." He continued. "And I hope you rethink 'this'. Ask yourself what you really want. You're unsure of so many things right now, Mystique. I don't think having a child is the answer." He paused. "I don't think I'm the answer."

Raven gasped, and she kept her head on his shoulder. Tears continued to flow, and some of them trickled down his skin. She closed her eyes and pressed herself harder against him, pulling him close. She just wanted to feel more of him. And the sound of his heart beating comforted her. He made her feel like herself again. And Mystique liked that. He reminded her of who she really was. Being with him made her feel like she belonged again.

She softly exhaled and nuzzled against the side of his neck. He felt so warm, so sturdy against her. And Erik felt her comfort in him. She seemed more calm now, and he liked it. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he liked feeling her this close. He reached up and delicately ran his fingers through her raven dark hair. He wanted her to know that he was still there with her.

"So what now, Mystique?" He asked softly. "What do we do now? Where do we go from here?"

"Please don't ask me that, Erik. Not now, please." She replied. "Ask me about tomorrow. But don't ask me about now. Don't ask me about tonight. I'm happy where I am right now...Here...With you..." She whispered close to his neck. "If only it could always be as simple as this."

Erik exhaled. "If only, Raven. But it can't. It can never be simple between us. You know that. You've known that from the moment we've met." He said softly. Erik continued to run his fingers through her raven black hair. "You and I, we can never be like 'them'. We can never 'live' like them. We can never 'love' like them. Perhaps you can...But I cannot. I've gone too far to turn back now, my dear...too far and too deep. I've begun this war and I plan to finish it."

Mystique exhaled, and let the last of her tears trickle down her face. She slowly lifted her head from his shoulder, and looked deep into his eyes. "If it ends...If the war ends, will you love me then? Will you let me love you – when the time comes? When we're finally free?" There was suddenly a glimmer of hope in her voice.

He smiled...But it was a smile that expressed a hint of sadness. He ran a finger down her cheek, and delicately traced the sweet contour of her lips. "I think the right question to ask - is if I'll still be here when that time comes. It's a war, Raven. People die in wars. Even I am not invincible."

"Then stop fighting, Erik." She pleaded. "Stop fighting. Whether we want to accept it or not, the cure has taken away our abilities. It's the reality we have to live with. We are what we are now. We're now human – just like them! Maybe it's not our war anymore, Erik. Maybe it's time to move on."

"We didn't have to move on! We didn't need to be human! Don't you understand?" He shouted, right at her face. The coldness in his eyes were back, and he looked at her with so much searing anger. "How could you say that, Raven? How could you tell me that being human was the only solution?"

"I'm not saying that, Erik...I just ---"

"You truly have become one of them!" He hissed. "You're starting to believe that we're their equal! But we're not, Raven! We're superior to them! We were born into this world to dominate them! It is not anymore a case of whether they respect us or accept us. We are their gods and that is who we should be! You once used to believe in the same thing, my dear...But you've turned into a human sympathizer, like Charles." He sneered at her. "No...Worse. You've turned human yourself."

"Erik, no! Try to understand ---"

"Understand what! That we have lost? That everything we did, everything we fought for, has come down to this? I may have lost my abilities, 'Raven" He spat out her 'slave' name. "But I will never let them have me! They will never destroy my soul like they did yours!"

"I love you, Erik!" She screamed. "I'm saying all this because I love you! Because I want to be with you! Because I want us to be happy! And if it makes me sound human, then so be it. Maybe you're right...Maybe I have become one of them. But that's just because I'm tired of pretending that I don't love you." She reached out to touch his face.

But he moved his cheek away before she could touch his skin. He turned around and walked to the window, away from her. "I'm sorry. But we belong to two different worlds now. Go back to yours. You don't belong here. You don't belong with me. You want my love..." He turned his head to the side to catch a glimpse of her. "But you know I can't give it to you."

"That doesn't mean I have to stop loving you." She replied. She stood steadfast.

"Why do you always have to make things so complicated for yourself, Mystique? Why?" He asked, still looking out the window. "I'm setting you free for the second time. I'm letting you be who you want to be. I'm letting you go. Don't you want to be happy?" He refused to look at her. He didn't want to look her way for as long as she was standing in that same room with him.

"I told you...I'm happy where I am now. You want me to be happy, and yet you ask me to leave when all I want is to be with you." She replied. "Please, Erik. Look at me."

"You will never be happy with me. I will never be able to give you what you want." He watched the dimming sky above the towering buildings, but his mind was on her. "You should leave me...Forget about me. Start your life anew if that's what your heart desires. Find your happiness elsewhere. Find a man who will love you. A man who will spend the rest of his life loving you. He will wake up and live and breathe and die for you. He will say your name as if it's the very thing that keeps him alive. He will hold you in his arms and kiss you at night. You and him will have as many children as you want. Then sooner or later you will realize that you do not need me anymore. All your sad memories will whither away with time. You will forget that you were once Mystique. You will forget about the pain you endured. You will forget about me. Then everything will be right. All will be well. You will find the happiness that you desire. You and him will live happily ever after." The corner of his lip arched up into subtle smile. That was the life he wanted her to have. It was the life she deserved. And picturing it in his head - made him happy for her.

Erik didn't notice that Raven was now standing right next to him, looking out the same window as he was. "Still, I would never be happy with that life. I will never be satisfied." She hooked her arm around his arm and lovingly grasped his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. Then she looked at his face and watched as the faint orange glow of the setting sun traced the features of his visage. "How can I be, when I cannot live in a world without you in it?"

Mystique's words struck his heart. And his face suddenly wore an expression of sadness and regret. If he wasn't who he was, if he wasn't what he was, he would be that man, and he would love her for all eternity. But he was Magneto. He was more Magneto than he was Erik Lensherr. And Magneto, not Erik, could not love her. Magneto had become too cold for love.

He looked at her, and his blue eyes glimmered with sweet sorrow. A sad smile twisted his lips as he looked at her beautiful face. "It is unfortunate, Mystique, that we can only go as far as our words can take us. We can never really live them, can we?"

Erik bowed his head and moved a way from her, then he laid down in bed, and placed his hands over his bare stomach. "I guess this is the part where we say goodbye." He said, his head still bowed. "Goodbye, Raven Darkholme. For your sake, I hope we never meet again."

"Erik..." She wanted to pursue him. She didn't want to give up. Not yet.

"Just go." He said firmly. "I need some time alone...Some time alone to think, to plan, to rebuild." He lifted his right hand and closed it into a tight fist. "Who knows?" The door to the room swung open, and he smiled. "Magneto may be back sooner than they think." He motioned his hand sideways, and the door slammed shut in one swift motion.

Mystique looked surprised. "How did you..." She looked at the door, and looked at Erik. "The cure. Are you telling me it's temporary?" She immediately looked at her hand, and wondered if she would ever see it in its natural bluish color again.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I don't know if the 'cure' is temporary. Though I wouldn't say I have fully regained what I had lost either." He sighed, and looked at his hands. He appeared depressed, but not defeated. "I can barely feel it coursing through my veins now...My power over metal, my control of magnetism. All of it had been reduced to this..." He flexed his fingers. "...Opening and closing doors, moving metal chess pieces, turning keys. It's pathetic, I know. And yet, in the end, I still won. They tried to make me 'human', but they failed. And that's what really matters, doesn't it? That the humans fail and that we triumph."

"Triumph...But at the cost of what? Does it have to be like this forever, Erik? Does someone always have to suffer for what we want?" Mystique asked.

"What 'we' want used to be what you wanted too. But your humanity has blinded you. And that makes you into one of 'them' now." He paused in silence, and frowned. "I asked you to leave. Leave. You are no use to me now. And I doubt I am of any use to you too."

Mystique wanted him to look at her. She wanted to him to say those words while looking into her eyes. Why couldn't he? Did her humanity made her so hideous to him? Did he despise her so much that he couldn't even bare to look her way? Did he truly not care for her anymore?

"I told you. I don't want to go." She said firmly.

Erik looked at her, eyes burning with intensity. "You want to stay here then, is that it? You want to stay with me, love me, knowing fully well that I can never love you back? You want to fool yourself into believing that we can have what we once had. Is that it, Raven?"

"No, Erik! I want more!" She exclaimed. Would he never understand?

She didn't want what they once had. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life fighting. She wanted a life with him. A 'real' life where they can be together without their hatred for humanity eating them alive. She wanted a life that was theirs and theirs alone. No humans...No brotherhood. No more running and hiding. Wasn't she enough to make him happy? Could she never give him what he needed? Did the humans have to lose for him to be satisfied?

"I cannot give you 'more'." His voice softened. "I cannot give you what you want."

"But you can give me what I need. And what I need is you. Just you, Erik. I don't need 'more'." She never looked away from him. She just watched as he lay there, deep in contemplation. "I just want to be here with you. You don't even have to pretend that you care."

She slid her coat off her shoulders, and felt something foreign in the front pocket. / "What's this?" /. She took the coat off and immediately reached into the pocket. She didn't remember putting anything in there before she left her apartment. Then Mystique's eyes widened in fear as she felt the small object between her fingers. In that instant, she knew what it was.

She pulled it out, and found a small device in her hand. It was as small as button, and nearly looked like one. But Mystique knew what it was, and she stared at it, mouth half-open in horror. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. The only thing that was certain to her was the feeling of her heart ramming in her chest. They couldn't have...

"No." She whispered. "No. I can't believe they would do this to me!"

"A tracking device?" Erik asked when he saw the object on her hand.

x x x x x x x

TO BE CONTINUED :D!


	4. Somewhere only we know

YES! Chapter 4 is finally up :D! Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and PM'ed me about this story :D! I hope you enjoy this fourth and "final" chapter ;)!

x x x x x x x

"Goodbye my lover.

Goodbye my friend.

You have been the one.

You have been the one for me."

Goodbye my Lover, James Blunt

Chapter 04: Somewhere only we know

Raven continued to stare at the tracking device in her hand. She still couldn't believe 'they' had done this to her.

"They couldn't trust me..." She looked broken and confused. Her voice shook with disappointment and sorrow The last time she felt this way was when Erik left her cold and naked when she became human. And now, her 'humans' had turned on her. "I trusted them. I sided with them."

Erik smirked, and stood up off the bed to face her. "You know why they did this, don't you? You know why they planted that device in your coat."

"They knew I would eventually lead them to you." She replied. Deep inside, she was panicking. The longer they stayed there, the sooner they would come for him.

"They want my head on a platter. They want me captured and contained. And I'm not surprised that they weren't able to do that on their own for the past two weeks. Humans are incompetent. Such irony, that they had to count on you, their former enemy, to do their dirty work for them."

She suddenly grabbed his upper arm, and looked firmly into his eyes. "You have to go, Erik. You have to go now!" She said commandingly. "Run as far away from here as you can where they can't find you! I don't want them to have you!"

Despite the sense of urgency in Raven's voice, Magneto remained calm. "I sense fear in you."

"I fear 'for' you!" She shouted. "I'm begging you, Erik! They know where I am now. They know where you are now! For all I know they've been tracking me ever since I started living as one of them." She paused, and took a deep breath. It was wrong for her to have sided with the humans in the first place. "I shouldn't have come here. This is all my fault. My love for you has betrayed you."

Erik smiled. There was no hint of fear in his blue eyes. He reached out, and gently wiped the tear from her cheek. "Love betrays. Hate betrays. Don't blame yourself for their sins, Raven."

"You have to go before it's too late." She whispered. "I know you want to fight them. But there's no sense in facing them now, Erik. You can't fight them like you used to! If you wait for them to come, they will capture you, and destroy you. They will slowly break your spirit until there's nothing left! Humans are unforgiving creatures! You've killed many of them and they want revenge! You know that! You're not Magneto anymore! The only choice you have now - is to run. Run!"

Deep inside, Erik knew he had no choice. Raven was right. He wouldn't be able to fight them in his current state. He was more or less a physically helpless old man to them now...An old man who had to pay for his crimes, and pay for them dearly.

He pressed his lips into a tight line and looked at her. Perhaps it was about time he accepted things as they were. He turned around without saying a word, and walked to where his sweater was on the floor. He picked it up, and put it on. He ran his fingers through his graying her, and cast a look at her.

"Run, and I will run with you." Mystique said eagerly. The determination in her eyes burned. She wasn't going to let fate take him away from her again. "I don't know if I'll ever bear losing you again. I want to run away with you, Erik! Then we can go somewhere where they can't find us, a place where they can't reach us...Somewhere where we can just be together, you and I. Then we'll start anew and ---"

"No. You can't. You can't come with me, Raven." He said firmly.

There was suddenly a brief moment of silence between them. She stared at him, her eyes filled with confusion as she tried to take in what he just said.

"You are a part of their 'system' now. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you know they will find you, and when they do, that will damn us both to hell." He could see the sadness swelling in her eyes, but he had to go on. "That is why we have to part, Raven. That is why we can never see each other again. It all ends here. I – hope you understand. I'm doing this all for you."

"Erik, no!" She shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she cupped his cheeks with her hands and looked deep into his eyes. She never held back the tears that streamed down her face. "Please take me with you. I need you! I love you! Doesn't any of that matter? Doesn't the fact that 'I love you', matter?"

The uncaring expression on Erik's face never faltered. He showed no sign of sadness or regret or sympathy. The only thing he could do was watch her cry right in front of his very eyes. He wished he could hold her, kiss her, dry her tears, and comfort her with his touch. He wished he could let himself love her. But he had to be strong. He had to be insensitive and firm for the both of them. It was the only way he could save her. He couldn't let himself fall...

"Love is not what I need right now. I'm truly sorry." He whispered. Then he glanced away from her. Seeing her like that only made him ache inside. "Someday, you will understand."

Mystique's lips twisted into a frown. "Understand? I don't need to understand anything, Erik! Please, look at me." With her hands on his cheeks, she gently guided his face so that he was facing her. She needed him to look her into the eyes while she says what she was about to say. "I don't need to understand why I can't be with you! Why? Why does it have to end like this between us? Why can't we be together? How come - that the only way for me to love you - is to let you go?"

They looked into each other's eyes. His eyes against hers, locked in silence as they memorized each others' faces. Raven delicately ran a finger down to his lips, and traced the sensual contour of it. Perhaps, if she kissed him, if she made him feel how much she loved him, how much she needed him both emotionally and physically, he would let her run with him.

But Erik thought otherwise. "There are times when letting go is the only way. Let me go, Raven. It's time to let me go. You finally have a life to call your own. You don't have to live mine anymore. And even if you tried, it would never work. We are different now. What we had is done."

Erik pulled away from her, and felt her fingers slowly slip away from his skin. Then he took one step back, and looked at her for the last time. He was about to leave her again, cause her pain a second time around, abandon her like he did the first. But this time, 'this' time, he was doing it 'all' for her. This was all for her. It was his bittersweet way of thanking her for everything.

"Erik..." She said.

"Yes, Raven?"

"My love for you doesn't have to end just because I'll never see you again."

Erik stood silent. Her words swirled in his head like a taste he would never forget. They would forever echo in his mind and haunt him for as long as he lived, like a scar that would never heal. They would eternally remind him of the love he could have had, the love he had to let go, and the woman he would never forget. Raven would never know, of course. He didn't want her to know how he truly felt.

And so he smiled, a sad and subtle smile that said goodbye. "Someday, perhaps, in a different place, in a different time, when you're not you and I'm not who I am, we will meet again, and I will love you."

With those words, he turned around, and left.

Raven could do nothing but watch Erik walk away until he eventually disappeared from her sight. Her heart screamed his name, but her lips kept still. Her feet wanted to run to him, but her mind asked her to stay. Yes...She knew he loved her. That was why he didn't want her to go. And she loved Erik...That was why she didn't follow him.

After a few minutes, the soldiers finally arrived. They kicked down the door to the apartment and headed upstairs, only to find Raven Darkholm lying on the bed, looking at the window, her face calm and emotionless, as if her very soul had left with the man she loved.

When the head of the squad questioned her, she told him he had already gone, and that she didn't know where he went. They searched the house and found nothing. No ID's, no documents, nothing that would tell them anything about the man who lived there. The house was practically empty of anything that would signify its former inhabitant. Erik was never a materialistic man.

The soldiers escorted Raven downstairs and sat her down on the couch while they continued their investigation. She sat there and watched as they relentlessly searched every nook and cranny of the small apartment in hopes of finding something that would lead them to the fugitive.

/ "You will never find him." / She thought to herself.

And deep inside, she smiled.

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EPILOGUE coming up next...


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